


bad moon on the rise

by peachyun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Attempt at Humor, But with changes, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Violence, Tags May Change, Teen Wolf AU, no abo!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-08-10 01:05:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16460528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyun/pseuds/peachyun
Summary: The bite is a gift.or: (Teen) Wolf by EXO





	1. prologue: iron

**Author's Note:**

> hello hehe  
> this work is based on the mtv show "teen wolf" and will follow the core of it BUT i will try to take many liberties and differ from the original scenario along the way so **no knowledge about the plot is required** , i try to explain everything as the story progresses.  
> because it's a werewolf story it might contain mild violence, blood and deaths of background characters but nothing too graphic.
> 
> enjoy!

There was a soft creaking coming from outside his window. The old wooden planks were making that noise, disrupting the otherwise quiet atmosphere, but it definitely wasn’t the wind that was playing this strange melody on them.

Something heavy was moving across the roof above their patio.

Jeno let out a shaky breath, the air hitting the foggy bathroom mirror in front of him. He just put his glasses back on, freshly done showering after a workout; tomorrow was the first day of his senior year and he wanted to start it up feeling confident and good about himself.

And _now_ someone was trying to break into his house. Great, _exactly_ what he needed. To be in a possibly dangerous, life-threatening situation. And his eighteenth birthday was just around the corner! Unfair.

Trying to remind himself that their town was the laziest, most boring place in the entire South Korea, Jeno grabbed his lacrosse stick and proceeded to follow the source of the sounds. They were careful; the intruder must have realised how loud they’ve been and started paying more attention. They were heading towards the edge of the roof, possibly wanting to get down.  
Jeno walked down the stairs trying to be swift and quiet at the same time. Somehow he managed not to trip over his own feet but his throat was starting to feel very tight and his breath was very close to hitching. He cursed his damned asthma and walked out the front door, lacrosse stick high and ready to come down.

He was the man of this place! He was supposed to take care of the house, especially since his brother was out! No one should pass uninvited! Not until they came through him, the strong manly-

“ _AAAAA_!”

Jeno, alarmed by the sudden sound, swung the stick and aimed to hit the face that has just appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He missed. ”WHAT THE HELL!”

“JENO, DON’T!”

“WHAT-”

“IT’S ME, _HAECHAN_!”

Panting, Jeno lowered the lacrosse stick and blinked a couple of times, trying to process what was happening.

In front of him was his best friend, Lee Donghyuck aka Haechan, hanging upside-down from the roof of the family’s patio, his legs still up there while the upper side of his body was hovering from the edge, brown locks sticking out towards the ground.

“Haechannie?! Why were you on my roof?!” Jeno yelled at him, a hint of whining in his tone as he still tried to come down from the adrenaline high. _Gosh_ , that scared him.

Haechan shuffled, visibly trying to change his position but failing at doing so. “I tried to climb to your room? But I misplaced where your window is and climbed here.”

“How could you have missed where my window is, you know the patio is on the other side!”

“Fine!” Haechan raised his hands in defeat - or rather, lowered them to the ground, since he was still suspended in air. “Climbing here was easier than to your room.”

Feeling hopeless, Jeno wrung his hands. “And you couldn’t call or simply use the front door because…?”

“Your brother can’t know about it!”

 _Uh-oh._ This sounded bad. Really bad. Jeno looked at his friend suspiciously, the lacrosse stick still in his hand for some reason. “First of all, if Taeyong were home he would have definitely noticed you trying to break your way in. Your logic is way off. Second of all, did you eavesdrop your dad’s dispatch talk again?”

The brunet gasped, faking indignation as he clutched at his chest where his heart was. “How dare you!”

“Cut it out, I know you must have a plan in mind. Get to the topic.”

“Okay, so,” Haechan said, paused, then huffed. “Can you first help me get down? I feel like my brain is sweating.”

Jeno tried tugging his friend down but to no avail. Then he climbed on the handrail to try and check what was holding Haechan up there. He got a glance at the tangled cables around the teenager’s ankle and pulled at them, resulting in the brunet falling down and pulling Jeno with, straight onto the mountain of leaves Jeno hadn’t know what to do with a few hours back.

Once they got up and stopped cursing at their apparent misfortune, Haechan sat down and looked at his friend with a serious expression. Jeno was too busy checking if his glasses survived the fall and picking leaves from his still wet black locks to pay more attention to him, so the brown-haired boy nudged him.

“Listen to me!” The teen whined, although rather quiet for his usual vocal self. “My dad took off twenty minutes ago. Most of the local units got called in and even some officers from neighbourhood towns who were available came.” His eyes shone with excitement but Jeno felt uneasy.

“For what?” He asked, even if he knew by doing so he was signing up for something.

Haechan smirked. “Two joggers found a body in the woods!” He whispered hotly, leaning towards his friend.

Jeno raised his eyebrows, surprised. What was he thinking before about their town being uneventful? “A dead body?”

The brunet scoffed, rolling his eyes. “No, a body of water.” He teased. “Of course a dead body, dumbass! A girl in her twenties, close to the place where the path gets near the stream.”

Jeno bit the inside of his cheek, feeling how his blood slowly ran cold. “Was she… murdered?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Haechan shrugged. “Nobody knows yet. But didn’t you notice something doesn’t fit?”

The raven-haired teen raised his eyebrows, not knowing what was supposedly amiss, but then it hit him. His lips formed a little ‘o’. “What do they need so many people for? Are they still looking for something?”

Haechan snapped his fingers and grinned like a mad man. “That’s the best part! They didn’t found the entire body… They only found _a half of it_.”

Jeno’s mouth opened in shock. “Are you saying…?”

“Will you help me find the rest of the body?”

 

~

 

Even as he sat in Haechan’s old jeep Jeno still couldn’t believe what was happening. They were going late at night into the cold dark woods to find half a corpse of a person who may or may not have been murdered. _And it was a_ _school night_!

Those were the perks of befriending Haechan, he mused. His friend had a penchant for trouble, was too curious for his own sake and had next to zero sense of danger surrounding him. He was bright in school and altogether a funny guy but it seemed like he was always up to something, and ninety percent of the time he dragged Jeno along with him. For a sheriff's son he was surely keen on bending the law and sticking his nose where he shouldn’t be.

Haechan started humming as he parked the car outside one of the paths leading deep into the woods. He jumped off his seat and Jeno followed soon after. “You’re sure you want to do this?” The black-haired teen asked, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

The brunet let out a short laugh, fishing out a small flashlight from his hoodie pockets and lighting it up. “We’re doing this for you, too. You always complain about what a boring middle-of-nowhere we live in.”

Jeno couldn’t deny that. He tended to whine about their town quite a lot, especially since a lot of his family lived either in the capital or by the sea and had much more interesting stories to share wherever they had family gatherings.

He fiddled with his inhaler - he felt they were going to walk a lot so it was better to have it close - as he exhaled through his nose, following his friend’s steps into the forest. “True, but… I wanted to get enough sleep before tomorrow so I can be well rested for the tryouts.”

Haechan laughed low in his throat as he stepped over a fallen branch. “Oh yeah, so you can sit and look pretty on the bench they’re going to put you on for the entire school year. Along with me.”

“Not this year, no,” Jeno shook his head, a small smile appearing on his lips. “I trained the whole summer without slacking off. I’ll be on the team and I’ll play.”

“Aww, look at you,” Haechan cooed, barely sparing his friend a glance, too busy marching forward. “It’s really good to follow your dreams, even if they’re as pathetically unrealistic as this one. But hey, you go buddy! Have the spirit! I root for you”

Jeno rolled his eyes. Dark clouds were spreading above the forest, a thick fog was fusing the trees surrounding them and blurring their lines. Haechan’s flashlight barely helped and on top of that Jeno’s glasses were going to mist over soon.

“Hey, you said which half of the body we’re looking for?” The black-haired boy asked, putting his hood on.

His companion let out a hum. “I don’t know, to be honest.”

“So we’re out here, not sure what exactly we’re looking for, while a murderer might still lurk around?”

“Pretty much- Get down!” Haechan shouted and fell to the ground, Jeno following suit.

They quietly crawled up a small hill with a low murmur of distant conversations in the air. There were lights in front of them and the rustle of dead leaves on the ground.

They found the search team.

Jeno felt his throat tightening so he brought his inhaler up to his lips to use it when Haechan suddenly got up and took off. Flabbergasted and mid-cough, Jeno heaved himself up and tried to follow his friend, whisper-yelling after him to wait up as he couldn’t find it in himself to catch up.

All this summer workout and he still couldn’t control his breathing.

After maybe a minute of intense running Jeno saw Haechan but the boy wasn’t alone. A man with a warm jacket over his police uniform was grabbing him by the collar and looking highly disappointed as other men pointed their flashlights at the two of them, lightening up the area.

_Looks like Haechan ran into his own father, huh._

Jeno quietly stepped sideways to the nearest tree and hid behind it. He couldn’t hear everything clearly, in his ears even his own breath was louder than the conversation between Haechan and his dad.

Suddenly the lights aimed in his direction so he hugged the tree tighter and stopped breathing.

“Jeno?” Mister Lee’s voice boomed across the forest. “Are you over there?”

“Dad, I told you!” Haechan’s whine carried after his dad’s question. “I’m here by myself. Jeno wanted to rest well before the first day back. I’m the only reckless one here.”

Jeno closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on the cold bark. Haechan was saving his ass; he knew his brother would absolutely lose it if he found out Jeno was trekking in the woods in search of a dead body. Well, a half. Taeyong had warned him many times that he wasn’t going to let him do foolish things as he wished, and that until he turned eighteen he had to listen to him unless he wanted to get grounded.

The search team slowly backed off, taking Haechan with them. Jeno watched them leave and cursed under his breath, then felt it starting to hitch again. He reached into his hoodie for the inhaler only to find the pockets empty. Panicked, he started to frantically look around him but the damned thing was nowhere in sight. He counted to ten in his mind to not start panicking and went to the direction he came from, or at least he supposed he did. He must have dropped it when he started running after Haechan.

Taeyong would definitely notice if he lost the inhaler and he didn’t have enough money to buy it soon enough for his older brother to not notice. With shaking hands Jeno pulled out his phone, leaning forward and feeling his glasses slip to the tip of his nose. How they stayed on while the inhaler fell out of his pocket was truly beyond him. He turned the flashlight option on and started to look for his loss.

The undergrowth was sticky and wet but Jeno didn’t have the choice, he had to look and ramage through it. Soon his hands felt icky and disgusting and so did the rest of him because of the humidity in the air. The moon was still hidden behind the clouds which were dark and heavy with rain. Jeno sniffed quietly, feeling his snickers getting damp when he heard a crack.

Surprised, he almost dropped his phone but quickly composed himself. After a short dilemma whether to go there and check or head elsewhere, he chose the second option. He wasn’t the brightest but he still had some self preservation instinct in him, mind you; he wasn’t like those dumbasses in movies, too curious for their own good. Still haunched in half he resumed his search, not even noticing how quiet the forest around him has gotten in the meantime.

After a few steps he clicked his tongue and straightened up to clear his glasses. They’d got foggy to the point where the entire forest seemed like a one-colored void, no distinguished points in sight. After he put the glasses back on his nose Jeno looked back down.

And found dead eyes staring back at him.

Half of a body was laying two metres from him.

Jeno screamed bloody murder and jumped backwards, instantly losing balance and tripping onto the forest ground.

It was also the moment when he heard it. A quiet snarling getting closer to him.

He barely got a glance at a pair of scarlet red eyes before everything happened so fast.

First the swish of air. Then the thud of something hitting the ground right next to him.

Then the intense pain. Scream of agony, his own.

After that Jeno saw red, red _everywhere_.

Red like the eyes that stared deep into his, chaos and madness swimming in them.

Red like the blood oozing from his side where he was bitten before he could even think of reacting.

With whatever strength he had left Jeno kicked around, hoping to get away. The movement shot through his body like a lightning, making him shout in pain again. His senses were dim, the world was spinning but even then he could see - feel, sense - the creature leaving the place with Jeno still bleeding onto the undergrowth. A long howl pierced through the night air soon after, distinct in the ominously quiet woods.

Because of the adrenaline spiking in his veins Jeno somehow managed to stand up on his wobbly legs. Each breath caused him pain but he knew he couldn’t stay there, he needed, _required_ help immediately.

So he took off. Ran where his feet took him, on his willpower alone. Blood was still spilling out from his wound but he didn’t stop moving. Straight onto the street.

He couldn’t go to the hospital. Even if his brother’s shift was over he would definitely hear from someone that Jeno came there bloodied and hurt; everyone knew Taeyong and how much he cared about his younger sibling. He had to take care of himself with his own hands just to keep the secret going.

He headed home, praying to whatever God there was that his brother was still working. Was it smart? Not necessarily, but he’d rather die than disappoint his brother. He could deal with it himself, right?


	2. chapter 1: of the mountains

This time Jeno got lucky. The house was still locked and empty so he went straight for the first aid kit and patched himself up, messily but sufficient enough so he could make it through the night. The skin wasn’t torn and didn’t require stitches, however the wound was deep and teeth-shaped so quite a few things could go wrong during the next few hours. Jeno was feeling too tired and heavy to worry more about the possible infections and diseases, he just wanted to sleep. After popping a few painkillers he went to bed, foregoing a shower as he felt too weak to stand upright and couldn’t risk a fall, especially since he was alone in the house. A fever made him toss around during the night, sweat was rolling off his uncomfortably warm skin onto his bed. He felt as if his insides were turning, changing their places, his skin felt like it didn’t fit his body anymore. He wanted to scratch his entire body but also felt irritated by the slightest touch. He could breathe but even if his throat didn’t feel tight, breathing still felt odd and different.

He didn’t know how long it took before he finally fell asleep. Next day he woke up feeling fine, although he was a bit late for school. Luckily, it seemed his brother was still asleep so he could sneak out unnoticed.

Cursing his inability to say ‘no’ to Haechan Jeno quickly took a shower, changed the bandage on his side and got ready as fast as he never had before. His wound didn’t look as bad as it did yesterday, luckily it wasn’t bleeding anymore and judging by the healthy colors it probably wasn’t infected. In his haste Jeno forgot about his lost inhaler but surprisingly even after he sped off on his bike he didn’t feel like his throat and lungs were going to collapse any second, and he made the fifteen minute ride in seven, a personal record.

Maybe it was really his lucky day.

Haechan was patiently waiting for him by the entrance and immediately bombarded him with questions and apologies for the previous night as all students passed them on their way to classes.

“I got home fine, no worry,” Jeno waved his hand, smiling. He was feeling good today, like he actually had a good night sleep. “I have to tell you about some stuff, though. See you at the lunch break?”

Haechan’s eyes widened but he nodded his head. “If you saw the rest of the body without me I am _so_ going to kick your butt!”

Jeno grinned but had to rush cause the bell rang and he wasn’t going to start off his new year by being late to the first class. His senior year was going to be all about good starts.

Students slowly filled out the literature class, taking the seats one by one. Jeno felt ready; he had read some of the books from syllabus during the summer to not get behind with the material when the lacrosse practice would start taking up more of his spare time. He reached down to his backpack to pull out his notebook when a shrill noise cut through the air. It startled him, almost making him drop his stuff. It was a rather annoying ringtone and Jeno felt like beating up whoever forgot to turn off their handy before the class but was surprised to see no one was reaching down to their backpack to pick up the call. He couldn’t pinpoint where the sound was coming from, he felt kind of dumbfounded and was even more surprised when it stopped and someone started to talk in a foreign language. The voice sounded unfamiliar to Jeno, making him even more confused. Was he delusional? Was it because of the blood loss from yesterday? As if because of a hunch, his eyes laid on a silhouette sitting on a bench outside of the classroom, a figure of a boy answering a phone call.

_Huh?_

There was a good twenty meters and a solid wall between them but somehow the words spoken and heard by Jeno matched the movement of the lips of the boy outside. For some reason unbeknownst to him Jeno was hearing the boy clearly as if they sat right next to each other. And he couldn’t even see him that well!

The raven-haired teen unconsciously reached up to his left ear as if to inspect it, completely flabbergasted by the situation. The class teacher has started to talk in the meantime but Jeno was focused on something else, outside of the room, so he didn’t pay attention. After a few second of a phone call in a language Jeno finally recognized as Mandarin another voice spoke up, this time in Korean. It was their school’s principal, mister Seo, welcoming a new student aboard and approaching him with a smile.

 _Oh, so the Chinese guy was new_ , Jeno thought to himself as the stranger stood up from the bench and politely bowed down. Made sense he could have conversations in a different language, looked like it wasn’t Jeno’s brain making up a whole speech in a language he didn’t understand. However, it still didn’t explain how in the world was it possible for him to effortlessly hear a distant speech through a brick wall.

The principal with the new guy entered the school building and walked down the corridor, stopping in front of the room Jeno’s class was in.

“Students,” mister Seo opened the door and went inside, the Chinese boy in tow. He looked pretty uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. “This is Huang Renjun, a new student. I hope he gets a warm welcome from all of you.”

With that said the principal left, leaving the guy - Renjun - alone in front of the class. He was a skinny boy dressed in a dark blue hoodie and jeans and white snickers on his feet. His brown fringe fell on his eyebrows like a curtain. He quickly bowed down and hurried to a near empty desk placed behind Jeno’s. Jeno was practically itching to turn around and take a better look at his new classmate. He was curious about the whole incident that happened a minute ago and wanted to see if there was something special about the boy. He went to sit down too fast for Jeno to notice anything out of ordinary in him and now the teacher would reprimand them if they didn’t pay attention in class. Jeno knew he had to wait until the period was over even if he was aware of how the curiosity was going to eat him from the inside out.

When the bell rang and everyone started to pack Jeno halted for a bit, waiting till Renjun would pass him on his way out. When it happened Jeno hurriedly got up and went after the boy.

“Hey, Renjun,” Jeno called after him in the hall, making the other boy turn around with his eyebrows high. “Welcome in our town!”

“Oh,” a small smile bloomed on Renjun’s lips. “Thank you, that’s nice of you.”

“I hope you like it here so far,” Jeno smiled at him, liking how the other’s voice sounded like when he spoke in Korean.

“I do,” Renjun fiddled with his hoodie sleeve. “It’s… different than what I’m used to but it’s good. Quiet, more green.”

“You’re from a city?” Jeno guessed and got a nod as a response.

“Yeah,” the brown-haired boy breathed out. “Plus it’s my first time in Korea, too. So even if I’m fluent enough to hold a conversation, it’s still going to take me a bit more to get used to speaking in Korean on a daily basis with people who won’t understand if I forget a word and say it in Mandarin instead.”

“You sound like a native Korean speaker,” Jeno pointed out, impressed by the lack of accent and any stutter in his speech. He vaguely remembered how it looked like when previously there was a new student from China in their town and he surely needed more time to adapt than Renjun. The Chinese boy sent him a funny smile.

“I know that,” he chuckled, fixing the backpack’s strap on his arm. “Listen, I have to find my locker and put my books there. See you around?” Renjun raised an eyebrow, small smile dancing on his lips.

“Sure!” Jeno answered fast, maybe seeming too eager but not caring about it too much. “See you!”

Renjun sent him one last smile before turning around and moving along the wall with lockers, Jeno’s eyes on his frame.

 

The next few classes passed quickly even if Jeno was participating in the activities a lot. The teachers were surprised since most of the time he just sat quietly in his desk and never spoke up unless he was asked. This time he would raise his hand, make the exercises faster than others, ask questions to understand better or expand the topics. Jeno felt his mind was clearer than ever thus making any thinking processes more swift. He couldn’t explain it but he surely enjoyed the feeling. It was like with Renjun’s appearance his curiosity spiked and now he was eager to know more and more, as well as got more able to focus better. Haechan said he barely recognized him, astounded at how active Jeno was in the classes they shared. His friend finally got to hear the story of the previous day and as expected, freaked out on the spot firstly hearing about the half of a corpse and then about Jeno’s wound. He almost made him take off his t-shirt to inspect it on the spot but fortunately  dropped the subject, convinced by the fact that they were in a public space surrounded by people. He was still worried and wondered if lacrosse was a good idea in this scenario but Jeno wasn’t going to drop it so easily after a whole summer of getting ready to play in the first line. He felt good. His mind was set.

The tryouts started after the sixth period. Jeno felt more alive than he usually would after this many lessons. Something was clearly up with him but he wasn’t going to complain. His bandage was still securely wrapped around him and didn’t move too much during the day so he skipped changing it and just put the uniform on. Haechan kept sending him worried glances but Jeno felt fine, certain that nothing was going to happen to him.

Together they went out onto the field where the early birds were already warming up. Na Jaemin and Park Jisung were by the goal doing the skips, Jaemin with his helmet already on. Their friend, Zhong Chenle, one of the few Chinese students in their high school, was dressed warmly on the bleachers, a fluffy scarf covering him from collarbones up to his nose. The air was chilly but after a few laps they would stop feeling cold.

There were a few freshmen around, their faces unfamiliar for Jeno thus easy to spot. Usually coach Choi allowed most candidates to join the team but not everyone got the chance to play too soon, Jeno and Haechan the finest examples with three years on the team and maybe one or two games played. It wasn’t coach’s ill intentions, they just weren’t as good as the first line with Jeno losing his footing and breath after three hurried steps and Haechan’s chaotic shots and the fact that he closed his eyes when the ball was thrown his way. They still tried their best and after a summer as intense as Jeno made his, the boy wasn’t settling down for the bench position again.

As he was running and shifting his gaze among the young faces he hasn’t seen before Jeno spotted a familiar one and a smile made its way onto his lips.

“Hey, Renjun,” Jeno called, leaving Haechan behind and skipping towards his new colleague. “I see you heard that our lacrosse team is one of the best in the province?”

“Oh, it’s you,” Renjun smiled brightly at him, looking up from where he was tying his shoes while sitting on a bench. “To be frank, no, I’ve heard none of that. I just wanted to join a club and for some reason school’s ballet group doesn’t allow boys to join.”

“So you just _settled down_ for lacrosse?” Jeno asked, trying not to scoff and seem offended that someone didn’t put his treasured sport as their priority. Renjun was just so different than him, the ballet included.

“Yeah, basically,” the Chinese boy shrugged, standing up. “I’ve never even played the sport but I know the rules. I like staying active and lacrosse doesn’t seem too complicated if you’re a quick thinker with good throws, right?”

Jeno chuckled, starting to feel a little pity for the newbie. He clearly didn’t know what was coming for him and the reality was about to hit him hard. “Well, good luck then, because our team has some top notch players and it’s not so easy to become a regular among them.”

Renjun raised one of his thin eyebrows. “Are you in the regular squad?”

“Well, no--”

“In that case, good luck to you too,” the Chinese boy smiled, patting Jeno on his shoulder with his gloved hand. “Let’s see who’s better.”

The brunette could only gape as Renjun left him to run laps. He quickly shook his head and snapped out if it, luckily just in time so he could twist sideways to avoid getting hit with a ball that flew by him all of sudden.

“Lee Jeno! Pay attention!” Jaemin shouted at him, running past to retrieve the ball he previously threw.  Jeno scoffed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at his peer.

Jaemin was one of the best players in their team and has been chosen as the captain last year because of that. He was swift, cunning and could find his way out of the tightest of positions, getting the MVP title various times. He also had a good aim so the ball that went Jeno’s way most likely wasn’t a dumb mistake, especially with the smirk Jaemin was sporting as he passed him. He’d said many times that he just tries to bring out the best in everyone and make them work harder in the field but sometimes Jeno found it hard to believe. Or maybe he was just envious of the other’s skills.

Coach Choi’s appearance was announced by a loud shrill of his whistle. He asked all participants to stand in line and started to explain how the tryouts will look like. Half of them would be tested one on one with Jeongin, their goalie, while the other half had their abilities to retrieve and pass the ball checked with the help of Jaemin and Hyunjin, their best players, and then the groups would switch places. After that, roughly half an hour later the best candidates and current members would be split between two teams to play a game to test everyone’s teamwork skills and how they do out in the field.

It was sort of embarrassing to be treated as a candidate each year just because Jeno didn’t make it to the regular line. Aside from their goalie, captain and his co who were participating in the tryouts, all the other regular members were free for the time before the practice match. Jisung was already seated next to Chenle, having secured his position in the team during his freshman year. Jeno was jealous, of course, but couldn’t deny that their youngest’s skills were amazing and his title of young prodigy was well deserved.

Jeno stood in the line, trying to shake off the nervous buzzing that seemed to take over his body. He couldn’t decide between watching the people in front of him take turns in catching and passing the ball with Jaemin and Hyunjin and the line next to his, where Haechan was soon going to be in front to aim at the goal. A little further in the line stood Renjun who started waving when their eyes met. Jeno beamed at him, trying to force his nerves to calm down and stop making him stressed.

“Jeno!” Jaemin’s voice resonated in the air. “Could you please focus on the ball for a second? I thought you wanted to get off the bench this year, where’s the attitude?”

The buzzing in him suddenly stopped. Jeno looked in the directions of the team’s captain and slowly exhaled through his nose. Yes, he was slightly ticked off by the comment. It was his turn now and somehow the stress washed away. He focused entirely on the two players with whom he was supposed to practice and shut down all the other noises and distractions. When Hyunjin asked if he was ready, Jeno just nodded.

The task was simple. Hyunjin would launch the ball at him, he had to catch it, run a few metres towards Jaemin and pass the ball to him, kind of similar to volleyball practice. It was easy in theory but often Jeno would panic and let the ball fly past him or lose it along the way in his haste. The maneuver was to be repeated until success or the players deemed it useless.

Hyunjin, well aware of how the tryouts looked like with Jeno each year, made the pass high and slow, a lot of time to position your stick and catch the ball in the net. Jeno saw the ball flying his way, getting bigger in his eyes as if in slow motion; it was coming down in such a long time he got... impatient. He moved forward, his shoes scraping the hard ground loudly before the ball was close enough for a safe receive. Jeno swung his stick to catch it mid-air like players did to retrieve the ball from the opponent. Feeling he succeeded as weight was added to his net Jeno didn’t stop moving, he launched himself in the direction of a shocked Jaemin and after a few steps thwacked the stick again. The ball flew in the captain’s direction but the teen was too surprised to catch it so it flew by his ear with a swoosh of air, not even grazing him.

A silence fell, the only sound coming from the ball bouncing off the ground a few times.

“Lee Jeno, did you just…?” Hyunjin started, a mixture of surprise and glee on his face. “Wow, that’s… that’s a first, isn’t it? I’ve never seen you run this fast and not pass out.”

Jeno blinked slowly, only now realizing in how little time he crossed the distance between the line and the spot he was currently standing in. Jaemin was really close, sending him strange looks with his eyes squinted.

“We have to redo it,” the captain finally spoke up, shifting his weight from one feet to another.

“What? But he caught and passed the ball--”

“I didn’t catch it, though,” Jaemin interrupted firmly before Hyunjin could finish his sentence. “And the whole point is for him to be able to make passes to his teammates, not to throw the ball wherever.”

“Well, alright then, cap,” Hyunjin shrugged, picking up another ball in his net. “Jeno, let’s do it again.”

Jeno slowly made his way back to the start of the line, looking around and seeing faces as confused as he felt. Well, he did much better than he predicted, he was faster and didn’t trip, and his lungs didn’t feel like they were about to shrivel up and fall out of his body.

A strange feeling, being so… capable.

This time Hyunjin passed the ball less carefully and more like it would have been passed in an actual match. Jeno caught it effortlessly and started running towards Jaemin, making the distance between them smaller and smaller. Jaemin looked uneasy, still surprised with how different Jeno played today. He was used to being able to predict how each of his teammates would act in different situation but this was new. Sensing the situation from before might be repeated, Jeno focused more on his aiming this time. He barely felt the ground under his feet with how surely he was advancing, moving basically on pure instinct, and in the proper moment he swung his stick. The ball flew fast this time as well, Jaemin barely had any time to react but Jeno’s aim was better than before and the ball landed perfectly in the net of the captain’s lacrosse stick.

Haechan’s scream of joy was the first thing that broke the silence, soon followed by other loud cheers. Jeno blinked rapidly a few times, heaved and smiled, turning around to the rest of participants. It was a simple play but many of those gathered knew how Jeno usually played so seeing him like that was a new and joyous thing. Renjun caught his stare and sent him thumbs up with a soft smile painted on his face, already done with the goal tryout. Hyunjin was clapping.

Jaemin, however, was having none of that.

“Hyunjin, switch places with me,” he demanded, strutting past Jeno without sparing him a glance.

“Um, why?” The co-captain asked, looking suspiciously at the teen approaching him. “I’m good where I am.”

“We need to test Jeno once more, this time I’m doing the first pass.” Jaemin’s tone was firm and unyielding but Hyunjun was used to his tactics.

“This is really unnecessary, he both caught the ball and made a good pass, there is no need-”

“My word is final,” Jaemin stood in front of Hyunjin and looked him deep in the eyes. “We can’t have players relying on sheer luck.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows but decided it’s not worth to stand his ground since Jaemin was the type to shake everything to get what he wanted. He relented, trekking past him and sending an apologetic smile towards Jeno. The black-haired boy slowly made it back to the start of the line again, feeling upset over the obvious mistreatment of him. Could he swear that it wasn’t just luck that he made two passes as good as those? No, but he did them anyway, still there was never need to check someone again just to make sure. It never happened with other players.

Telling himself to calm down and not let the nerves take over him, Jeno focused his entire attention on Jaemin who was currently picking up one of the balls from the grass in a swift motion. Without asking if he was ready like Hyunjin would, Jaemin smacked his stick forward harshly, making the ball fly out spinning and changing its trajectory, going in a curve. Sirens blasted in Jeno’s ears as he launched sideways, feet barely touching the ground with how fast he moved. His own breathing and blood pumping loudly in his ears, he caught up to the ball after thirty, forty metres and scooped it up before it touched the ground, threw it up in the air and then, when the ball started coming down, he swung his stick hard. The ball fell in the net for just an nth of a second before it was sent across the field straight to Hyunjin who had to barely accommodate his stick to catch it.

Another silence fell as everyone watched the whole thing play out and now ran out of words to describe it. They moved their gazes from Jeno to Hyunjin, eyeing the sixty metres between the two of them. The ball crossed the distance in a blink of an eye. Jeno sent it basically perfectly. He stood there, panting, eyes shifting between the two captains.

And then Haechan rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground while screaming loudly. A few other people he shared classes with joined them to congratulate Jeno on the spectacular pass and a high chance of getting into the first line. Chenle and Jisung were shouting from the bleachers, big smiles on their faces. Even Hyunjin came to pat his shoulder and officially welcome him to the team, this time as a member not a bench warmer.

The practice wasn’t over nor a competition but Jeno felt like he’s won.

With triumph flooding his veins he felt like he could do anything. He passed the second part of the practice as well, with Jeongin not being able to stop neither of his 3 shots. The satisfaction was almost prinkling his fingertips, never in his life has he felt so fast, so precise, so… mighty. Haechan wasn’t having that much luck but even then he did way better than last year, this time able to catch all passes, having more trouble with passing the ball after. Renjun on the other hand left nothing more to wish from him; scored all three shots with one of them changing the direction last second and dumbfounding Jeongin. He checked out at the passes with flying colors as well, even doing a little show of avoiding an invisible opponent with a graceful spin on his heel.

When the time for a practice match has come some of the candidates have already given up. Most of the people who stayed were like Jeno, always a backup player and not really participating on the field much. Renjun was the exception, a fresh addition between the players having made the second biggest impression after Jeno. All freshmen have left. They didn’t have enough players for the two teams to be full but it didn’t matter, this way they could show their skills off better and coach could pay more attention to each one of them.

Jeno usually didn’t make it this far, having always messed up along the way and ending up on the bench with Haechan, staying up for the match to watch it. This time Haechan was on the bench alone, with other people who didn’t make the cut leaving the field. But Haechan didn’t look sad, no; he looked like a proud father, throwing thumbs up and grins at Jeno whenever the teen would look his way,

They were split into two teams lead by the captain and his co. Jeno landed in Hyunjin’s along with Jisung and Jeongin, with Renjun and Jaemin playing against him. Hyunjin didn’t tell them much, instead asking them to just pay close attention to their own teammates and try to make as many good passes as possible. The game wasn’t about the score as much as it was about the skills.

It started off with mostly regulars participating in the action as they already knew the way around each other. It didn’t take long for Jeno to push his way in, though: soon enough he was the first to pick up the ball, to corner someone, to catch the ball thrown at someone else. Him, Renjun and some other candidates were doing what they could, often competing with the best players in the team.

Jaemin seemed to not like how well Jeno was playing. Most of the time if someone crossed his way or bumped into him, it was Jaemin, as if he was set on making it harder and harder on him. Jeno didn’t let himself be squashed, he fought bravely, managing even to retrieve the ball from Jaemin himself one time, much to his captain’s stupefaction.

The game ended with a whistle, the coach asking them to gather around so he could officially welcome them to the team. Everyone who participated in the game was going to have a high chance of playing, however only ten of them were going to be in the first line. Jeno felt himself starting to tremble as he recalled and counted all the actions he did throughout the match, that might have been good enough for him to get on the regular squad. Coach Choi started listing the players: Jaemin, Hyunjin, Jeongin, Seungmin, Felix, Sanha, Daehwi, Jinyoung, Jisung…

“And Lee Jeno,” he finished, clicking his pen and closing the notebook he used for all results and notes. “Congratulations, you made it. Next practice is friday at 3 o’clock, don’t be late or there’ll be extra laps for everyone. Got it?”

A low murmur of agreement spread between the players but Jeno didn’t make a sound. He felt like he was in a simulation, he couldn’t believe what was happening around him. Even as they got dismissed and everyone went away to get changed he still didn’t move a muscle.

He really-- he seriously made it in? His hard work really paid off? That was… new.

A hand slapped his shoulder and stayed there, making his thoughts return to earth. “Congrats! Seems like you did better than me.”

Jeno turned his head to the side and saw Renjun beaming at him. He quickly got a grip of himself and sent a smile his way. “Thank you! You’ve played very well, too.”

“Yeah, but apparently solo skills aren’t the only thing required here. Who would have thought?” Renjun shrugged, biting his bottom lip to not smile. He started walking towards the locker room,  Jeno following suit. “Gotta work more on my teamwork skills if I want to step in for someone.”

“You won't try to get my position though, right?” The brunet asked, gaining a chuckle from his companion. “I'm serious, I worked very hard for it!”

“Can't make any promises,” he smirked, raising his palms in mock surrender. “You haven’t told me your name, by the way.” 

Jeno’s eyes widened. “Oh, fact, sorry! I’m Jeno.”

“Yeah, I know it already, I was there when coach talked to us you know,” Renjun grinned and patted his shoulder again, looking above it. “I think your friend is waiting for you so I’ll just let you be. See you later, Lee Jeno.”

Renjun barely left, sending him one last smile, when Haechan jumped on Jeno’s back and shrieked. “Mister Jeno! You went and did _that_!”

“Yes, I did,” Jeno huffed, grabbing his friend under his thighs so he wouldn’t fall off. Somehow he didn’t struggle with holding him up as much as he should. “The entire summer of training paid off!”

“You did the impossible! _Wig_!”

“Hey now, stop rubbing it in my face that you didn’t think I could make it in--”

“Wait, _shit_! Your wound!” Haechan yelled and started thrashing and wiggling to get off Jeno’s back, resulting in being dropped and hitting the ground with his butt. He quickly got up and barely brushed off his pants before he was already pulling Jeno’s sweatshirt up despite the raven-haired boy’s protests. He yelped and tried to shimmy his way out but Haechan was firmly set on his actions.

“Haechan, let go of me!” Jeno whined, trying to stop his friend from unceremoniously undressing him outside of the locker room. Luckily, no one seemed to be around but with the ruckus they were making it was just a matter of time before someone got curious and the team had already enough reasons to poke fun at them. “I feel fine, just drop it!”

“You said you could barely sleep from pain last night, it must hurt like hell now,” Haechan huffed, slapping Jeno’s hands away.

“Really, I’m good, I don’t feel it at-”

The caramel-haired boy jerked the hem of the sweatshirt upwards, finally resulting in uncovering Jeno’s side with the bandage on… just for the bandage to fall down and flop on the grass.

“ _Oh_.”

Jen squeezed his eyes, feeling hot all over. “Please tell me it doesn’t look as disgusting as I think it looks… It really doesn’t hurt but-”

“Jeno, shut up. There’s no wound.”

“ _What_?”

Jeno looked down at his side and could only gape at the sight.

Aside from the prints where the bandage has been a few seconds before, he was staring at a smooth skin, no discoloration, not a cut or a tear present. Not a single thing could prove that just a few hours ago there was a huge wound from a bite. Everything disappeared.

“Huh?” Jeno could only mutter out, not believing his own eyes. His mind was blank, he didn’t even know what was wrong. Did he heal that fast? Did he just imagine the wound? He remembered scrubbing off the dried blood… Was it just a small cut after all and he overreacted a lot?

“Man, the fuck…” Haechan murmured, bending down to pick up the bandage. There was blood on it, a stain big enough to fit the wound Jeno was now sure deformed his skin just this morning. Haechan inhaled loudly, shaking his head. “Were you just guilt tripping me for leaving you alone in the woods? Because I’d never expect such a low thing from you.” He asked, a fleck of hurt in his eyes.

“No!” Jeno raised his hands as if in surrender and took on his best pleading eyes. “I swear, I wasn’t making it up! There’s just something going on with me, I don’t know… Can I explain myself to you?”

Haechan huffed and stood up, putting his hands on his hips. “Well, you were never able to lie to me, so I guess you wouldn’t just prank me like that. What’s going on?”

Jeno exhaled slowly, putting his hands down. That was a very good question.

 

They walked through the forest, the air cold but not as prickly as in the night. Jeno was in front, leading the way he thought he went last night while recalling out loud everything that happened in more details than he got to tell during the lunch break; he couldn’t exactly say he was bitten by a howling creature that only resembled a wolf in a crowded place where everyone could overhear and paint him as a madman. He still had to retrieve his inhalator and his shift at the pet clinic wasn’t starting for an  hour or so, so he decided to tell his story on the way.

“And so since yesterday my senses seem more sensitive, I feel like I can focus more, see better, hear better…”

Haechan chuckled. “Your senses sharpened? I think I know what that is.”

Jeno turned around, his eyes widening a fraction. “You do? Because I’ve read about different infections and none of them was like this.”

“Yeah, because you read the wrong books.” The auburn-haired boy walked closer and put a hand on Jeno’s shoulder, his expression serious. “I think you’re pregnant, buddy.”

Jeno scoffed and pushed his hand away, a whine forming in his throat. “This isn’t funny! There’s something going on with me and I don’t know how to deal with it!”

“Oh no, you’re stronger, faster and heal quickly, however will you manage!” Haechan snickered but froze after a second, a frown forming on his face. He started patting Jeno’s back to get his attention to him. “Hey, wait a second-”

“You two! What are you doing here?!”

The two of them froze and looked to their side where the new voice was coming from. Jeno heard Haechan inhale sharply as his friend grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly. “Oh my God…”

A young guy was walking towards them, his steps sure, a suspicious expression on his face. He was wearing a dark jacket that made his shoulders look broad. His black combat boots crushed the undergrowth loudly.

“That’s Mark Lee, holy shit…”

Jeno should have felt threatened but he really didn’t. The Mark guy was barely taller than him and rather scrawny looking, probably around their age and had a goofy face… and tripped on a rock a few steps later, almost face-planting on the ground. Haechan gasped quietly.

The stranger quickly got up and resumed to make menacing faces at them as if there weren’t dirt stains on his knees. “This is private possession, you’re trespassing.”

“Oh,” Jeno felt guilt starting to paw at his insides. “Sorry, man. Didn’t realise. We’ll be gone soon. I just lost my inhalator somewhere here last night and wanted to find it. Didn’t know it was someone’s property, I swear.”

Mark squinted at them, a hand going into one of his back pockets. “You mean this?” He pulled out an inhalator and raised it to his head level. “Catch.” He tossed it with much more force than Jeno would have expected from him but luckily the teen grabbed it without a problem. “Now get lost. Do your homework or something.” Mark grumbled loud enough for them to hear before turning on his heel and walking back in whatever direction he came from.

“He’s so cool!” Haechan gushed, his hands flying to his cheeks. “That was Mark Lee!”

Jeno chuckled, raising one eyebrow as he packed the inhalator inside his pocket. “Yeah I heard you. Should I know him?”

“He was the captain of our badminton team! Unfortunately he already graduated, he’s one year older than us.”

“I didn’t know we had a badminton team,” Jeno furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the slowly retreating silhouette of Mark. The guy’s presence left a weird inkling in him, a feeling like he should know more about him, like he was familiar but his mind was blank.

“They never got too far in the ranking, true,” Haechan shuffled on his feet, shoulders slightly risen. “But to be honest, more people know Mark because of the fire.”

“The fire?”

“Yeah, the one that took place like what, six, seven years ago? About ten people died when a family house burned down.”

Jeno’s eye went wide with realization. “I remember that! I thought it was a different family, though?”

“The Jungs, yeah. It was his mom’s family, they lived in one house. They all died there, not far from where we stand right now. Mark and his parents were on a trip or something and came back after the incident.” The brunet shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and clicked his tongue. “I completely forgot they lived so deep in the woods… Anyway. Can we go now? You got your inhalator and I have… homework to do.” Haechan’s eyes were looking straight ahead but Jeno could still see something odd sparkling in them. He decided not to comment on it and nodded, quickly checking the time on his phone. “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

Jeno thought the pet clinic would take his mind off everything unusual that was happening to him but he was once again proven wrong.

Everything started normally, with doctor Kim letting him watch as he took care of a dog’s broken and asking him to pass him various devices and medicine. After the closing Jeno’s actual job began. He was there to clean the cages and feed the animals staying overnight, as well as to help the vet organise his newest supply of assortment according to the list. He liked animals and was seriously considering becoming a veterinarian himself in the future so the volunteer work at the clinic was helping him get some experience before he himself stepped foot on this career path. Town’s veterinarian was a friend of his brother, they knew each other from school, so Doyoung gladly took Jeno under his wing to teach him.

Jeno noisily dragged a big pack of dry dog food across the tiled floor towards the room with cages as the vet checked off the list the drug supply from today’s delivery.

“Did you take your medicine, Jeno?” Doyoung’s voice joined the sound of his pen scraping on the pad. The teen hummed as a response. Being allergic to cats while one worked at a pet clinic was a con, but the drugs he had prescribed to him helped Jeno enough so he didn’t have to resign, thank God. Humming a new pop song Jeno opened the door and walked inside, dragging the sack with him.

“Hello, kitties!” He announced happily as he strolled to one of the cages with a living ginger ball of fur inside. This cat has been an easy-going inhabitant of the clinic for the past three days and usually barely moved around in its cage, still recovering from an operation, but this time wasn’t like others. The animal spared Jeno a short glance before it suddenly stood up and bristled, teeth showing off with a hiss. It jumped at the cage door, trying to squeeze its exposed claws between the rods.

“Hey, easy there,” Jeno took a step back, confused, and heard more agitated noises coming from different cages around him. Completely flabbergasted, Jeno twirled around and lost his footing surrounded by the sounds of alarmed and startled animals. His foot hit the metal leg of a cage with a clank and he tripped onto the floor, hitting it loudly with his back as a chorus of scared animals began.

Doyoung came barging in between all this noise, the door almost hitting the wall if he didn’t catch it in the last second. “Jesus Christ, Jeno!” The older crouched down to help him stand up, a hand securing his back. “Are you okay? What happened here?”

Jeno’s lower back hurt but it was his pride that suffered more. “One of the cats jumped at me and I… I got spooked, I guess, I stepped back and tripped.”

There was worry swimming in Doyoung’s deep brown eyes as he walked Jeno back to the main room of the clinic. “A cat jumped at you? Did you startle it?”

With the amount of weird, unexplainable thing happening right now and the zero answers he had, Jeno felt so hopeless. He felt surrounded by uncertainty and for once, just _once_ today he wanted to not dwell on it and not drag more people in the absurd his life was spiralling into. He didn't need anyone else to look at him differently. So he lied. “Yeah, I might have poked her eye or something, I tried to reach to her between the bars and uh, yeah.”

Doyoung clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. “I think I don’t have to tell you to be more careful next time, right?”

“No, doc,” Jeno murmured, lowering his head in fake shame. His back has already stopped hurting but his head felt like it was about to explode with all the thoughts and questions causing a ruckus inside of it, much louder than the animal room that got quiet ever since they exited it. “I’ll watch out next time, I promise.”

Doyoung sighed, hand reaching up to ruffle Jeno’s hair. “Go home, alright? I know it’s a new school year and you have a lot of things on your plate right now. Just be back on your next shift in a good form, okay?”

Jeno nodded fervently and moved to grab his jacket and backpack. “Thanks, boss. I promise I will.”

 

Jeno remembered going up to his bed. He vividly could recall saying goodbye to his brother who was doing some late night cooking and going up to his room. He knew he fell asleep in his bed, remember the feeling of his pillow against his cheek.

So nothing could explain why the hell he woke up half-naked on the ground, in the middle of the woods, with dirt under his nails and on his face. He quickly got up on his feet, almost choking on the icy morning air from the shock. His body looked pale but surprisingly only started to feel cold once he fully realised he wasn’t in his bed. Completely startled, he felt sick to his stomach, terrified about the situation. Was his life really getting out of his control so quickly? Once he looked around he faintly noticed a house in the distance. It looked old, abandoned, the planks dirty and blackened.

The Jungs house.

Trying to fight the shiver than ran up his spine, Jeno began to move. He prayed to get lucky once again and not stumble into anyone because he really wasn’t able to explain his current state, and an excuse of a morning run, without a t-shirt or shoes for that matter, was out of the question. He stuck to the lesser used streets, estimating the time to be around seven in the morning. He’d jump behind a tree or a dumpster each time someone would appear in his line of vision. His feet stumbled and dragged across stones and twigs and asphalt but Jeno stopped feeling pain, completely numb from how his head was spinning with all the questions and anxiety.

Somehow he made it back. As quietly as he could, Jeno walked around the house to avoid the front door. He could see movement inside, Taeyong was still there getting ready for his shift at the hospital. He also noticed that his room’s window was wide open, the curtains moving slightly with the breeze, even if he never left it like that for the night. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, Jeno made sure he was safe, and then opted to climb up the patio like Haechan did two days before. Doing so took much less time than he expected; lifting himself up was surprisingly easy and went very smoothly, his hands and feet moving almost automatically. Jeno felt as if he was in a trance as he walked quietly across the roof tiles, towards the bathroom window which was opened too. After he landed on his feet inside Jeno exhaled deeply, letting out the breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

First thing Jeno did after he walked into his room was to grab his phone and make a call. Luckily, his friend picked up very soon.

“Haechan,” Jeno breathed in, thoughts swarming in his head without an order, uneasy to decipher any of them. “Remember what I told you yesterday? There’s more.”

Haechan hummed. “I know. Meet me in half an hour,” the teen yawned really loudly. “I need to share something with you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so many people squished into one chapter wow  
> thanks for reading and please leave some feedback, i'd love to know your thoughts!
> 
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> [ccat](https://curiouscat.me/bijaehyun)  
> 


	3. chapter 2: under my skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe welcome back?  
> this took way longer than i hoped it would, there were some obstacles on my way, but there it is! the second chapter! thanks to my friend, [gusia](https://twitter.com/comfysugamon) for being a quick beta  
> please enjoy~

Jeno pushed on the brakes of his bike to halt just inches away from the fence of Haechan’s house. He quickly discarded his two wheels against a pole and ran up to the front door, not paying attention to his bike clattering loudly onto the ground.

Haechan appeared in the doorway even before Jeno ran up the stairs, most likely having stood in the window and watched the driveway moments before. “Good to see you.”

“Likewise,” Jeno inhaled deeply. “I am so glad you agreed to listen to me, I have no idea what to think of it all and even if you laughed at me yesterday, you’re still the person I trust the most and-”

“Not here,” Haechan hissed, grabbing the door with one hand and ushering Jeno inside with the other. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation outside. Go to my room, I’ll bring breakfast.”

Jeno nodded and moved pass Haechan. Even in this brief moment he managed to notice how tired the other looked; his skin was pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes. Feeling concern igniting in his gut, Jeno halted for a second before Haechan once again shooed him away, closing the entrance and heading over to kitchen right after. Jeno bit his lip, quickly casting a glance at the hooks by the door to check if mister Lee was home - he wasn’t - before he ran upstairs.

Haechan’s room was even more of a mess than it usually was. There were books and loose papers scattered on the floor, the window curtains pulled close and a faint smell akin to parchment hanging in the air. His corkboard, usually filled with polaroids of Jeno and him as well as random notes, was stripped bare of its previous content and filled up with newspaper clippings and black and white pictures. Few pens and markers were lying around on his desk, mostly uncapped. Curious, Jeno walked closer to inspect the corkboard and traced his finger along the edges of the cutout articles. They all mentioned unusual sightings, sightings of bizarre creatures and unsolved murders, all within their region but most dating way back. Jeno furrowed his eyebrows and reached out to pluck one of the articles out when Haechan came in, a tray full of various sandwiches on his arm and an indistinct smell around him.

“I haven’t slept all night,” the caramel-haired teen started out as he set the tray on his desk, an odd tone in his voice. “I assume your sleep wasn’t that good too, huh?”

“Well,” Jeno breathed out, his clammy hands clasped behind his back. “I slept quite good but uh, I woke up in the middle of the woods? So there’s that.”

Haechan cackled, raising his hands to rub at his eyes. “Well of course,” he huffed out, still sporting a smile on his face even as he was pressing down on his eyes. “You _obviously_ did since there’s a full moon in what, two days? Tomorrow night? Damn, that’s gonna pass fast.”

Jeno raised one eyebrow and opened his mouth to ask but before he could, Haechan silenced him with a gesture.

“Eat the sandwiches and let me talk, okay?” The brunet stretched out his limbs as Jeno reached over to the tray. Haechan let out a long exhale through his nose and carded hands through his hair, turning it into a bigger mess. He started to pace back and forth in front of Jeno while the boy munched on a cucumber sandwich. After a few moments of silence he spoke up suddenly, almost startling his friend.

“You mentioned hearing things,” Haechan was fiddling with his fingers as he spoke. “Hearing things better, to be exact. Moving faster. Healing faster. Feeling stronger, am I right?”

Jeno nodded but furrowed his eyebrows, not sure if he mentioned his strength improving. Did he notice such a thing? “I don’t recall-”

“Your senses heightened, you can focus better and see clearer, right?” Haechan cast him a short look before he walked over to his desk to sit at the chair there. “You forgot your glasses yesterday and haven’t squinted even one time in class, today you don’t have them too. It’s like you don’t need them anymore, and we both know you shouldn’t be able to read without them.”

Jeno could only blink in response. He didn’t even realise it himself that not only did he not use his inhalator but forgot the glasses as well, and hasn’t felt a need to use neither even if the inhalator was back in its usual pocket of his backpack. He wanted to speak up again but Haechan wasn’t done just yet.

“What’s in my pocket, Jeno?” he asked calmly, both hands folded on his lap as he watched his friend with a wary look on his face. Jeno narrowed his eyes. “How would I know?”

“I saw you scrunching your nose when I entered the room,” Haechan sighed, spinning on his chair in a full circle. “I know you smelled what I put in the pocket.”

“Well, I smelled something, but-”

“What was it?”

Jeno wanted to protest but knew very well there was no point in doing so. He inhaled deeply, focusing on the smell that didn’t stop tickling his nostrils ever since the caramel-haired teen came into the room. It was definitely familiar. “Is it… an old mango taffy?”

“Congratulations,” Haechan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bundle to throw it at Jeno. “Your nose didn’t disappoint. Even through six layers of paper and cloth. I barely smelled the mango before I put it inside and yet, here you are.”

Jeno stared at the ball of crumpled paper on his lap and slowly began to unpack it. Haechan’s words were correct, underneath those few sheets and inside a felt pocket there was one piece of candy, slightly weathered but still emitting a smell sharp enough for Jeno’s nose to catch it. Surprised that such a small thing could give off such a strong aroma the teen raised his head, sending Haechan a look of complete loss.

“What’s happening?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. He tried to cover the candy once again, hoping that the smell would stop tormenting him as it made him unable to focus on anything else ever since he started paying attention to it. He felt his hands shaking, but then again, they might have been shaking the moment he opened his eyes and found himself on the forest ground. “What’s going on with me?”

Haechan bit his lip and plastered on a tight smile, standing up from the chair to walk over to his bed where he kneeled in front of Jeno. “You’re strong, fast, perceptive as you never were before. You don’t need you glasses or your inhalator, and you healed very quickly.” The boy took a shaky breath and carefully put a hand on his friend’s knee. “You’re a lycanthrope. A _werewolf._ ”

Jeno blinked once. Then twice. Before he blinked for the third time he was already standing up, pushing Haechan of off him.

“Why are you playing with me!?” He snarled, hands reaching up to tug at his hair. “This is seriously not funny, I’ve never sleep-walked in my life and now I’m just jumping from my window and trotting in the forest unconsciously, like, what the hell?! I came here because I trust you not to judge me and let me talk, sympathize with me, not to-”

“And I do, Jeno,” Haechan interrupted him firmly, still seated on the ground where he hasn’t moved since Jeno stood up. “What I said sounds crazy but so does everything that happened to you over the past two days. Ever since you were bitten, to remind you.”

“You must be mocking me,” Jeno shook his head, trying to take deep breaths. His vision was blurry with tears of anger helplessness, or both. “First you say I’m pregnant, now that I’m a sh-shapeshifter? You have to be kidding.”

“There’s literally no other explanation for your newly acquired talents,” Haechan stood up and moved over to the desk where he picked up a book. “I stayed up all night reading about this… You know my mom was clairvoyant, right?”

“That she was a medium?” Jeno remembered how his parents used to look at Haechan with a distaste painted on their faces and how they repeated many times that they don’t wish for Jeno to be friends with him because of how his mother was like. Luckily hey didn’t live with him anymore so it was no longer their concern whom Jeno met up with.

“Yes. She was interested in the world of supernatural and would tell me all those stories… I never believed her but I listened, of course, I couldn’t say no to her. I humored her often, she thought I saw what she saw so she left all her books, cards and notes to me, they were all in the basement and-” Haechan inhaled sharply, nimble fingers verting through the book he was holding. “She knew about it. The symptoms that you have, she mentioned them all. Here,” he turned the book around so Jeno could see where he was pointing. “Fast healing, sharpened senses, perseverance and strength. Being susceptible to the moon phases. Lycanthropy can be spread through a bite or a deep scratch. The thing you saw in the woods, did it look like this?”

“I-” Jeno’s eyes were frantically moving across the page adorned with with a drawing of a bipedal wolf of sorts. “I don’t know, maybe? I barely remember, it could have been a mountain lion for all we know-”

“Since when do mountain lions howl?” Haechan let out a dry chuckle. His gaze landed on something behind Jeno’s shoulder and his eyes lit up. “Let’s do this, then,” he said and closed the book with a thump, sending tiny grains of dust flying in the air. He walked past Jeno and picked up a discarded shirt from a chair, feeling it in his hands before he found something and raised it up to his eyes. A needle with a thread attached to it. “You said your wound from the woods healed, right?” He asked, putting down the book he was previously showing.

Jeno didn’t like where this was going. “I guess? But I might have imagined it all, I went to the bed with a fever and-”

“Let me prick you,” Haechan suggested, his voice serious and firm.

“Why _in the world_ would you do that?” Jeno reeled back, shaking his head in disbelief.

Haechan shrugged, taking a step closer. “It’s just a small needle. It basically won’t hurt, and I want to prove a point since you don’t trust me.”

“This is insane-”

“So is waking up in the middle of the woods with no memory of getting there.” Haechan snarked. “Come on, man up. If I’m wrong, nothing will happen, if I’m right, you’ll see.”

Jeno shifted on his feet. He had nothing to lose, right? With a sigh escaping from between his lips, he moved closer to Haechan and extended his hand. A small thankful smile appeared on his friend’s face before he pinched Jeno’s forefinger between his index and thumb and pierced the skin with a slow push of the needle. Jeno couldn’t help but flinch even if the pain was miniscule. As soon as Haechan withdrew the needle blood followed it, forming a small bead on the tip of Jeno’s finger. Jeno could hear his friend’s rapidly beating heart, he could see the expectancy in his eyes, so only after something shone in them did Jeno lower his gaze to his hand, just in time to see the droplet of blood shrinking, seeping back inside to reveal a clean patch of skin with no punctuation marks, no wounds, nothing.

Both of the boys exhaled at the same time.

“You do heal fast. This is not something that would happen if it were me.”

Jeno looked Haechan deeply in the eyes. He tried to find a sparkle of mischief there, any sign that the other teen was playing with him a cruel game, but Haechan looked sincere if not even resigned.

“I’m being honest with you, Jeno,” the caramel-haired boy’s lips got so tightly shut they became pale. “I believe you so please, believe me. I will give you the book, read it. It might help you. And Jeno, be careful, the full moon is not here yet and you’re already falling victim to it. It will get more difficult. It will hurt.”

 

They drove to school in complete silence. Jeno was still digesting all the information thrown at him, trying to connect it all in his head and not lose his mind along the way. The book Haechan gave him wasn’t too heavy but he still could feel its weight in his backpack.

The worst thing was... it all made sense. Being a _werewolf_ was literally the only explanation as far as Jeno was aware. That wasn’t just an odd sickness. He doubted anything else could explain his bizarre behavior, nightly escapades, the better vision, healing and what not. It wasn’t a sane resolution, but it was the only one he had at hand.

Lost in his thoughts Jeno barely registered when they arrived at school. Shaking himself out of the trance he stepped off the jeep, putting one of the backpack straps on his shoulder. His friend hasn’t spoken a word ever since they got out of his house. Haechan being this quiet was a new thing and it didn’t sit well with Jeno. He knew his friend was giving him space and yes, he needed some time to process everything, but the silence was almost deafening to him. It was almost as if they fought and he didn’t like it one bit.

With a sigh fighting its way out of his chest Jeno walked in through the main entrance…

And stopped walking immediately.

His locker was close to the doors, just a few steps away so he always grabbed his things on his way to class. No one ever waited for him there since most of his friends either came in with him or met up in classes already, not really bothering to remember which of the lockers is his.

So imagine his surprise where he saw a person leaning against his locker, shoulders relaxed but jaw clenched. He was watching Jeno and Haechan, the expression on his face expectant.

Mark Lee.

Jeno felt Haechan grabbing his arm and squeezing it but barely registered it as he trotted forwards, putting on his most passive face.

“May I help you?” Jeno asked, trying to make his nerves go away and not appear in his tone. Mark’s presence was bothering him again and he just wanted him gone, too tired to deal with any more stressors.

“Actually, I was thinking I may be able to help _you_ ,” Mark chuckled, but there were no sparkles of mirth in his eyes. He watched Jeno carefully. “Since, you know, you trespassed again even if I told you yesterday that it’s a private possession.”

 _Oh_. He must have been awake at the time when Jeno woke up in the woods and might have seen him flee the scene. He completely forgot he was so close to the house, more focused on the forest aspect of his whereabouts.

Before Jeno opened his mouth, Mark spoke up again. “Was there something you needed? Were you looking for something again?”

Feeling the older guy’s eyes bore holes into his skull Jeno felt threatened. It was a simple question asked with a seemingly light tone but Jeno gulped loudly before answering. “No, I just got lost in thought and- and wandered there by mistake. I swear I wasn’t snooping around, it was a coincidence.”

“Besides, you should put a fence around your house if you don’t want people going over there!” Haechan piped in, his voice only slightly more squeaky than usually. Mark spared him a short glance before his eyes moved back to Jeno. He pushed himself off the locker and took a step towards the two boys, not breaking the eye contact, not even blinking. “Are you sure that you weren’t looking for something? Something _I_ can help you with?” His gaze was unwavering and intense.

 _What’s this guy’s deal? Oh God, was Mark a dealer?_ crossed Jeno’s mind as he blinked rapidly and shook his head. “No. It was my mistake, I’m sorry.”

Mark let out a long exhale before his face finally shifted and he moved, stepping sideways to walk past Jeno and Haechan. “I see. Try not to wander into the woods at such odd hours if you get lost so easily.” He looked almost disappointed, his previously searching eyes now empty. “Someone died there recently so it’s better to avoid the place altogether.”

He left and with him the tension that crowded Jeno. He relaxed his shoulders and breathed out, reaching to open his locker.

“Dude, Mark Lee is creepy,” Haechan shook his head, looking after the older guy. “I always thought he was a cute weirdo, but didn’t know the weirdness went to that extent. He doesn’t even go there anymore! And he knew where your locker was?! So odd.”

“It’s not on the top of my list of weird things happening to me,” Jeno mused, fishing out proper books for his first period, “but it was really odd. He seems very fishy and makes me feel uneasy.”

“Same,” Haechan clicked his tongue. “Gotta go, see you in class?”

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Jeno decided to skip his fourth period. It was against the rules he set for his senior year but he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander to the book Haechan gave him. He couldn’t properly focus on the class anyway, he sat there with his mind fuzzy and anything said by the teacher went right above his head, so he might have as well just skipped them.

The library was quiet, the lady working behind the counter didn’t even acknowledge his entrance. There seemed to be no one around so Jeno chose a table by the window for himself, settled between the shelves that barely reached his chest so when he sat down he was safely surrounded, hidden from any curious gazes. Jeno didn’t want to risk it, the book he had wasn’t exactly something one could just borrow from the local library. He sat down and pulled out the volume. For a moment he just stared at the hard cover; it was thick and looked old, battered, the spine had visible cracks and was peeling off at places. It had that characteristic smell of an old book as if it was just pulled out from a bookstand, not touched by people in years. The front cover didn’t show much, it was just a series of golden lines that didn’t mean anything to Jeno. With a sigh slipping from between his lips, he opened the book and looked for the table of contents.

In a matter of fifteen minutes he already felt like his mind was about to explode. The book was sort of a guide of unnatural beings. There were descriptions of creatures, some that Jeno has seen in movies and some that he has never heard of. The illustrations were added every four or five pages and they looked like they’ve been pulled out of a children’s book, but then again, everything in there was a legend, a tale or just seemed made up on the spot.

Faeries, druids, acromantula… It was like a textbook pulled out from Harry Potter. Jeno thought he’d just skip to find what Haechan was talking about earlier, the lycanthrophy section, but he couldn’t help himself from flipping through the pages with interest. It was a parade of curiosities on the pages in front of him and any other time he’d just call it bluff, but because of the recent events he wasn’t that quick to simply dismiss anything; what used to seem like just a fairy tale was now probable for him. It looked like he’s been brainwashed, but if normal sources can’t provide anything useful you just have to reach deeper and step onto lesser known paths. It was a whole new world and for a second Jeno wanted to feel like he’s getting the hang of it instead of being completely lost like he was feeling lately.

He barely got to see the drawing of a red-eyed bipedal creature before he heard a familiar voice.

“Oh, Lee Jeno? Are you skipping class?”

He hurriedly shut the book and without thinking too much shoved it off the table, hearing it fall to the floor with a soft thump. He straightened up and looked to the direction where the sound was coming from, to be met with a questioning gaze from Jaemin.

“Huh? Me? What did you ask, again?” He cleared his throat, raising a closed fist to his mouth to seem more serious. He got so invested into studying the book from Haechan he completely stopped paying attention to his surroundings; there were more people in the library now, from where he was sitting he could see Jisung standing by the librarian’s desk and a few other students wandering about.

“I said, are you skipping class? You should know that coach hates slackers, we all are supposed to keep our grades up if we want to stay on the team.” Jaemin crossed his arms on his chest, shooting Jeno a judgmental look.

Jeno started to fiddle with his fingers, trying to come up with an excuse. He knew Jaemin was right, he really did have to maintain a good GPA and his presence in class was required for basically all the subjects, but right now his mind had other things to worry about. “I’m not skipping, I have a free period. Why are you here? I thought Haechan had class with you at this hour.”

“Coach wanted me and Jisung to print out the official list of the team members and hang it in the corridors.” Jaemin pointed towards the librarian’s desk with his thumb. Jisung was over there, tapping his fingers on the counter while the lady stood above the printer and watched it spit out paper. “Your name will officially be listed as one of the first line players.”

Jeno felt a small smile make its way onto his face. With everything crazy happening it was good to know that he really managed to meet one of his goals, even if it might have been due to unusual circumstances. It was his little beacon of hope nonetheless.

Jaemin slid onto the chair on the opposite side and squinted at Jeno. “You were good at the practice.”

“Thank you-”

“Too good,” the captain scoffed, leaning back. “It was a lot different from your usual play and I can’t say I find it normal. It’s really suspicious.”

Jeno blinked, trying to shrug his shoulders nonchalantly. Inside his head a warning sign started to flash brightly, he knew he had to be careful.  “I don’t know what you want me to say. I worked hard to get better and deserve the spot.”

Jaemin let out a dry chuckle, his fingers tapping on the desk between the duo. “Just tell me where you’re getting your juice.”

Caught off guard, Jeno blinked owlishly, the sentence he heard completely not adding up in his head. “Pardon?”

“Where. Are you getting. Your juice.” Jaemin punctuated each word with a tap on the desk, each one a bit harder than the previous. Jeno’s eyes flickered to his hand for a second before they moved back onto Jaemin’s face, trying to decipher from it whatever was the meaning behind his question. Was it a slang? A reference to something? Carefully, Jeno put his hands on his lap, not breaking the eye contact as if he was approaching an animal.

“My brother Taeyong does all the grocery shopping?” He answered, the way his voice rose making it seem more like a question than an actual answer. The look Jaemin sent his way assured him of his failed interpretation.

“You think this is some sort of a game?”

“Well, actually, lacrosse is-”

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Lee,” Jaemin’s eyes were glistening as he spoke. “You’re too fishy. I won’t have you jeopardizing the team’s success because you went ahead and got some performance enhancement pills, or whatever that is that’s currently frying your already wilted brain. We work hard and we work fair and I expect nothing else from you.”

“You think I’m on steroids?!” Jeno choked out, torn between feeling offended and relieved as the meaning behind his captain’s words finally dawned on him.

Jaemin was too perceptive. If he was set on something, he was going to pursue it. As soon as one disappeared, another bubble of panic started to form in Jeno’s chest, and he tried to keep his nerves at bay. Jaemin didn’t know the reason of his sudden improvement but with the captain’s persistence he was most likely to discover something in a matter of time. Sweat started to form at Jeno’s hairline.

Jaemin shrugged, resuming his tapping on the desk. “I don’t care what your source is, nor do I care. You’ve definitely gotten a lot better during a short amount of time. It is suspicious and you can’t think you’ve gotten everyone fooled. You’re safe as long as I have no proof, but sooner or later I’ll know what your secret is, Lee Jeno. I’ll find out.”

Jeno furrowed his brows, feeling his breath quicken up in both rising anger and stress. “You can’t just pick on me like that.” His words were moving faster than his thought, the instinct to flee the scene kicking in.  “I’m not your target. I made it fair and square and I will give my best to the team.” He stood up, grabbed his backpack without zipping it close and walked past Jaemin in loud steps. “I’m not having this useless conversation with you, I have enough bullshit on my plate already.”

Jisung, who just walked into the aisle took a step to the side to let Jeno walk through, seeing how the older boy was power-walking his way out. He was quite literally fuming and standing in his way would do no good to anyone.

“See you at the practice tomorrow, Jeno!” Jaemin managed to yell after him before Jeno got out of the library.

The corridors were empty and quiet, not a soul in sight, seemingly no sounds but Jeno’s ragged breathing echoing against the lockers and walls. He tried to calm himself down but he couldn’t; his mind was providing him with Jaemin’s words about how he’s able to see the changes in him. Changes that he himself still couldn’t wrap his head around. Changes that he couldn’t control.

Not only was he entering a place he’s never dreamed about, bare and inexperienced, he also had eyes on his back. And if Haechan was right and he was really a werewolf… It meant trouble. Big trouble.

His hands started to shake. His lungs tightened like he was having an asthma attack but it felt different. The world was closing on him and he had this itch in his hand, an itch to throw something, destroy something, let his bottled up frustration out of his system. He wanted to scream and thrash around but his head hurt, chest ached and his legs started to feel weaker and weaker. His backpack slid off his shoulder and thumped against the floor.

Slowly, he leaned against a wall and slid down to a crouching position, hands flying up to cover his face. He could hear his own breathing and blood thrumming in his ears so loudly it was overwhelming. His eyes started to prickle. His vision turned red.

“Jeno? Oh God, are you alright?”

He didn’t raise his head but he didn’t have to; he was able to recognize Renjun’s voice even through the buzzing in his ears. He tried to answer but his tongue didn’t cooperate, it felt heavy and foreign in his mouth. Soon he felt a hand laying down on his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s alright, you’re going to be fine. Breathe with me?” A long inhale. “Do you want to get some fresh air? Can I do something for you?”

Jeno sat down clumsily, startling Renjun. The Chinese student withdrew his hand but soon after that Jeno felt a gentle touch on both of his wrists.

“Do you hear me? Is that your… wait, are you asthmatic? Oh my God, wait a second,”

There was a shuffling sound, the touch and the presence beside him disappeared and suddenly Jeno felt so, so alone. Why did Renjun leave him? Did he _know_? Did he find out just like Jaemin? Jeno felt his breath quicken up even more, the air hurting his throat with each intake.

Suddenly there were fingers encircling on his wrists, trying to put them down, move his hands away from his face. Jeno wanted to fight it but when a familiar scent made its presence in his nose, he relented. He put his hands down and looked up, seeing Renjun’s worried face as if through a fog, surrounded by the fluorescent lights of the corridor like a halo. With his vision losing and finding its sharpness like an adjusting camera lense Jeno tried to focus on Renjun, but before he could do that he felt something touching his lips rather firmly.

His inhalator.

The feeling was so familiar he reached to hold onto the device on his own, opening up his mouth and spraying the medicine on his tongue, down his throat. He took a deep breath, inhaling the substance, and the ruckus going on in his head finally subdued enough for him to get a clearer mind. The lights above Renjun’s head were no longer unbearable, Jeno’s eyes stopped hurting and his breathing evened out after a few tries. He was still shaking slightly and felt light-headed but somehow Jeno knew it would soon go away as well.

Renjun sat down next to him, leaning against the wall with his legs straightened on the tile floor. “Is it better now?” He asked, worry clear in his voice.

Jeno let his hands fall to the floor as he took a deep breath, content with how his chest didn’t ache any more. “Yeah, it’s better.” He exhaled through his nose soundly. “Thanks for helping me out. How did you know how-?”

“Oh, my cousin has asthma,” Renjun explained, pointing to Jeno’s backpack that laid on the floor unzipped, half of its contents scattered around. “And I saw an inhalator there so I just assumed it was yours, and you might be having an attack. Although my cousin never had ones like this.”

Jeno leaned his head backwards till it touched the wall and closed his eyes for a second. “I never had one quite like this before, too,” he mused, and that much was true. The fact that he doubted asthma had anything to do with it was left unsaid.

Renjun nodded, playing with his fingers. “I thought it also looked like a panic attack, have you ever had those? You weren’t contacting properly, and I know the inhalator helped, but.” A beat. “It was weird.”

“I don’t know, it was new to me. I don’t know what happened.” Jeno lied, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Will you be alright now?”

“I mean, I have to, right? I still have class.”

“You can skip?” Renjun shrugged, bringing his legs closer to his chest.

Jeno turned his head to the side to get a better look at the boy next to him. “Are you for real? It’s the senior year, everything we do matters and gets summed up on the reports at the end of the year, if I start slacking now-”

“Now?” Renjun chuckled, his eyes crinkling. “It’s just the first week of school, no one will care much about your absence, will they?” He nudged Jeno’s side. “You seem shaken and the school’s nurse is a myth, I know that and I’ve been there for like what, two minutes? It’s alright not to be up to your own standards from time to time.”

“I guess…” Jeno sighed, looking down at his shoes. He had his plans for the academic year, but was he able to stay in school for the rest of the day if he managed to already lose control? He could barely focus on the three classes he attended, his mind going entirely elsewhere and losing its sharpness. Haechan warned him. He wasn’t going to be well for the next two days. And the thought itself made him even more nervous.

“Come on,” Renjun stood up and reached his hand towards Jeno, a friendly smile blooming on his face. “Let me walk you home so you get there safely. Can’t really offer you a ride but I can humor you with my wit and bright personality.”

Jeno let out a chuckle, grabbing the outstretched hand and standing up. “Well, I can’t say no to that.”

 

Renjun did, in fact, entertain him on the way. He wasn’t a chatterbox like Haechan but he was quite an interesting conversation partner, his observations clever and discussion-worthy. He was both book-smart and interested in many things. Jeno found out about his other passion, painting, that took up most of his life, like ballet about which he also got to talk some more now. Renjun was from a good family with traditions and they tried to spark vast interests in him, therefore igniting the desire to excel at any task given to him. During those few miles they walked together Jeno has heard about dancing, singing, photography, playing instruments, fencing, even crocheting, all playing a bigger or a smaller part in Renjun’s life. He declared that although he dropped most of those things, the necessities to perform them well still were brought into his new house in case he ever felt the need to pick up old interests.

They reached Jeno’s house seemingly very fast, as Jeno was too engrossed in talking with Renjun to properly count time. He noticed the kitchen window was open, a sign that Taeyong was back home and cooking something. Anxiousness about his brother’s reaction started to itch underneath Jeno’s skin but he tried his best to tamper it down as he looked at Renjun with a small smile.

“Thanks for making sure I didn’t pass out on the way,” Jeno joked, one hand playing with the strap of his backpack as his other hang nimbly by his side. He felt awkward, but that was Renjun’s impact.

“No problem!” Renjun smiled brightly. “You’re sure you can take it from here?”

Jeno nodded, pointing towards the house with his thumb. “Yeah, my brother’s home. He’s going to beat me up for skipping but also keep an eye on me if anything happens.”

“Perfect.” Renjun grinned. “So, see you at school tomorrow? I hope you’ll feel better by then. Remember, we have the lacrosse practice tomorrow, you can’t miss it!”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Jeno puffed up his chest, the giddiness about being on the team a familiar and welcome buzzing in him. “See you, Renjun.”

Jeno watched Renjun walk away and turn around a corner before he went up the patio and into the house. Even before he opened the front door his nose picked up a nice smell of meat being grilled. Feeling saliva starting to pool in his mouth, Jeno forgot he should be more worried about being so early back until he stood in the kitchen and his eyes met with his brother’s surprised gaze.

“Were your classes cancelled?” Taeyong asked, squinting at his younger brother and crossing his arms. He was wearing his house clothes and looking comfortable but the tiredness on his face made it clear that despite being short, his shift was as tiresome as usual. There was a pan sizzling on the gas stove and a small post-preparation mess on the table.

“Hello to you too?” Jeno started weakly, before he swallowed and continued. “I had an attack at school. I mean, a friend says it was a panic attack.”

Taeyong’s features softened immediately as worry spread across his face and after a few short strides he was right in front of Jeno, gently cupping his face and scanning it with his gaze.

“You had a panic attack?” He asked softly, eyes moving across Jeno’s face as if he was scanning it. “How do you feel now? Does anything hurt?”

Jeno smiled but pulled his brother’s hands away from his face. “I’m good. It was some time ago, anyway.”

“You’re sure you don’t feel faint? No dizziness, blurry vision or aching?” Taeyong looked restless, like he couldn’t just stand without doing anything. He was always worrying about Jeno, giving him more attention and advices than their parents ever had. “Should I call the school and tell them you’re sick?”

“If you could?” Jeno exhaled, both hands grasping at his backpack straps. “I’ll go upstairs to my room to rest a little, okay?”

“Of course,” Taeyong was already rummaging through the mess on the table to grab his phone. “If I bring hot cocoa with me, will you let me in so we can watch a movie together?”

Jeno grinned, feeling a sort of easiness settle on top of his lungs. “Only if it’s _High School Musical_.”

 

“You watched _High School Musical_ without me?!” Haechan bemoaned, falling down on Jeno’s bed head-first and pulling the pillow close to his chest. Jeno chuckled as he closed the door to his room.

Haechan drove to his house right after his classes finished, worried out of his mind. Jeno barely registered there was a jeep parked on their driveaway before he had armful of his best friend, rumbling about being the last one to know about everything.

“I had to found out where you are from Renjun! _Renjun_! I have never even spoken to the guy outside of class!” Haechan told him while shaking his head.

Jeno didn’t know what to tell him about it so he just let Haechan rant until the boy was bunched up in his bedsheets, pout present on his face and big eyes shining with fake tears.

“I can’t really explain what happened, but I felt… like I was suffocating?” Jeno breathed as he made his way towards his bed, sitting down next to Haechan.  “Jaemin ticked me off, he said he will find out what made my performance so good and he promised to not let me off his eyes. I left and immediately couldn’t breathe properly but it wasn’t just it. I also was so restless, I was shaking, there was this overcoming urge to, to do something, I had to free myself from it, something was  building up in me, making me want to-”

“Kill?” Haechan’s eyes were dull and his face blank. Jeno blinked.

“To destroy something, but… I’m no longer sure.” He rested his face in his palms and let out a long exhale. “Am I an animal?” His voice came out weak.

“What? No,” Haechan sounded miffed. “You’re just new to it. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have seen that coming. It’s difficult but you’re going to learn, with my help.”

Jeno raised his head and cast a glance at his best friend who was smiling gently at him. Slowly, he straightened up. “Will you help me through it?”

“Of course, I’m your best friend, who do you take me for?” Haechan rolled his eyes. “Besides, with the library my mom left me I think I might be the only person who knows what to do with you. Have you read the book I gave you?”

“I tried,” Jeno’s mind flashed back to the library. “But it was when Jaemin interrupted me. I haven’t touched it since- wait.”

Jeno got up on his feet and marched to his backpack, peeking inside and moving his stuff around to find the book. He couldn’t spot it so he picked up the bag and put it upside down, shaking out the contents. A lot of things came out but the book wasn’t there.

“Don’t tell me you lost it already,” Haechan huffed a laugh, but his face didn’t look amused. Jeno turned to him, at a loss of words. “You really did? Damn, Jeno! When was the last time you saw it?”

Jeno began to tug at his hair as he paced around his room, frantically browsing through his foggy memories. “At the library? I know I was reading it and then Jaemin came in so I panicked and… threw it off the table? It should be underneath the table!”

“I think by now someone must have picked it up,” Haechan’s mouth twisted, a sour expression appearing on his face. “It’s after hours, the place was cleaned.”

Jeno’s breaths started to get uneven again. He blinked and tried to make his inhales longer but his lungs were resisting, beginning to ache. Haechan quickly scrambled out of the bed.

“Hey, we can go have a look tomorrow? It’s just a book,” he was by Jeno’s side in a second, a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. “No one is going to believe what’s inside. No one has seen what we have, they will think it’s just a story for kids.”

Jeno squeezed his eyes shut and tried to count to ten. He kept repeating that losing the book didn’t mean someone was going to be onto them, that it wasn’t a clue for anyone who didn’t know what to look for. He tried to take a long breath and it worked.

“There you go!” Haechan exclaimed, sounding relieved. “We will go to the library before the class tomorrow, seriously, nothing is lost. It’s not on the register so they probably put it somewhere else so we can pick it up without a problem, alright?”

“Yeah,” Jeno felt a tingling going down his spine and then it was alright. “You’re right. Nothing’s lost.”

 

Jeno tried to convince Haechan to stay over the night but mister Lee has refused, saying Haechan was still grounded for wandering in the woods where a body was found. Helpless, Jeno was ready to ask his brother if they could share a room for the night, to which Taeyong would have agreed if he wasn’t called in. Apparently, there was an accident involving three cars and a bus so they needed all hands on deck.

So Jeno was alone in the house, with the moon blinking at him through the windows, almost mocking him. Not knowing much about what else to do, Jeno went to sleep, this time dressed more warmly, and just prayed to whatever God there was that this night he’d stay in his bed and not get up miles away in the morning.

His wishes went to drain, as he got his consciousness back when blinding lights flashed before him, almost hurting his eyes. He blinked and realised he, once again, wasn’t in his bed, but kneeling down on the ground littered with dying leaves, his bare arms covered in something dark from his fingertips up to his elbows. It was still night, the flashing lights in front of him leaving everything around in the dark. Disorientated, Jeno didn’t hear the yelling or the commotion until an arrow pierced through the air and shot him in his left shoulder, right above his collarbone.

He started to scream out of pain.

There were more swishes in the air and another arrow zipped towards him. Luckily, somehow he managed to snap his head to the side just in time to avoid it. Suddenly aware of his legs, Jeno quickly scrambled up, turned around and began to run, as far away from the lights as possible, the leaves crunching loudly under his hurried steps. His lungs might have not burned like they should with he effort he was putting into fleeting the scene, but his shoulder, _God_ , his shoulder. It was hurting like someone was pressing a scolding rod to it harder and harder, the pain creating blank spots in Jeno’s vision.

Between the yelling and the whizzes of air coming from behind him, suddenly a pained shout appeared, quickly followed by another one and heavy thudding. The sound of the chase subdued as if the number of people running after him got smaller, and soon the thumps were coming from a single pair of feet, but they were getting closer. Not long after that a hand grabbed Jeno’s arm and yanked it backwards, making him stumble and lose his footing.

Jeno landed on his back, hard, and before he could get up, his legs and arms were pinned back down. He started to thrash around but the movement only made his shoulder hurt harder.

“Stop moving or I’ll break the arrow! Jesus, I’m trying to help you here, man.”

Dumbfounded, Jeno finally looked at the person sitting on his thighs and holding his wrists down.

“ _Mark Lee_?!”

“Forgot I live here already?” Mark scoffed, sending Jeno a pointed look when he didn’t cease squirming. At that, Jeno stopped moving, and Mark released one of his wrists to instead grabb at the rod still jutting from his wound.

“Ready?” He huffed, gripping the arrow more tightly.

“Ready for what?” Jeno managed to wheeze out before Mark jerked the arrow out of his body in a fast, swift movement.

Jeno opened his mouth to scream but Mark quickly covered it close with both of his hands.

“Keep quiet! They are still out there and they might hear you!”

Breathing harshly against Mark’s palms, Jeno looked at him in an almost feverish way. The fear from before was still swimming in his veins and he was shaking slightly but understood that he had to be silent. He nodded his head and Mark withdrew his hands.

“Who are they?” Jeno rasped out, his voice coming out shaky and quiet.

Mark got off his thighs and crouched down next to him instead, casting a glance towards the directions they came from. “The hunters, of course. With the recent murder they got back out here to roam since they know it’s not a job for the police. I think they knew the car crash from a few hours ago was just a decoy for everyone to focus on that instead of keeping an eye on the woods. But you know about that, I see,” Mark looked pointedly down at Jeno’s arms, the boy parotting the movement.

That’s when he realised the sticky dark thing covering his hands was blood, slowly drying off.

“Oh my god,” Jeno squeaked out, feeling his entire body starting to tremble. “I _killed_ someone!?”

“What? No!” Mark snorted, smacking Jeno’s shoulder where the arrow wound was visibly closing, much to the teen’s wonder. “You came there and found the body, don’t you remember?” After a short pause a flash of recognition appeared in his eyes. “You actually don’t remember, huh?”

Jeno sit up, furrowing his brows and trying to produce any idea of what might have happened out of his foggy memories. “No clue. I remember going to sleep and the next thing I know is me being shot with an arrow.”

“Well, that certainly must have been a confusing experience.” Mark chuckled, hand reaching up to card through his hair. “Well, it’s your first full moon, after all.”

Jeno looked at his companion with wide eyes. He knew?! Then it clicked.

“You’re a werewolf too?!” He gasped, pointing his index finger.

Mark rose an eyebrow and grabbed Jeno’s finger to put it down. “Well, yes. Isn’t that the reason you kept coming back to my house? Because you knew I might help you?”

“I had no idea,” Jeno answered, his mind seemingly twirling in his head, nothing coherent coming out of it. “I don’t know why I keep coming back here. Last time I wandered here while I was asleep, too.”

Mark hummed, a frown appearing on his face. “You really don’t know much, huh? You’ve been turned the day the first body was found, am I right?”

Jeno nodded, a shudder rolling down his spine at the thought of the dead eyes that were staring back at him, nothing behind them. “So now there are two bodies?”

“Yeah,” Mark sighed, bottom lip between his teeth. “With how you keep coming back and roaming about I bet your maker is the one who stands behind the murders. I didn’t consider how you might have gotten turned but that makes sense. You probably got in their way and that’s why you got bitten. It’s not a smart move from them, but then again, they seem to know what they’re doing, since they put up the bait at the road to divert everyone’s attention. Well, aside from the hunters and, well, us. You’re drawn to your alpha but damn, aren’t they a nasty type.”

Jeno felt a huge headache coming. He took a deep breath. “So you’re saying that I got bit by a bloodlust werewolf because I was in a wrong place, at a wrong time?”

“Pretty much,” Mark shrugged, standing up and swiping at his pants to get rid of any dirt that might have possibly stained them. “But don’t think of it as bad luck. Many people would kill to be in your position. Consider yourself a lucky guy. The bite is a gift. You just have to learn how to use it well. And, yeah, be careful of your surroundings.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/kihyeonssi)


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